John Edwards Scandal: Bob McGovern the National Enquirer's Inside Source?

Who's been the "inside source" for the National Enquirer in the John Edwards-Rielle Hunter Love Child Scandal? Seems everyone has an opinion, including DBKP. Was it Rielle Hunter? Hunter's friend, Bob McGovern, who drove both Hunter and Edwards to their meetings at the Beverly Hilton? Or, a third person?

Radar's "Is Rielle Hunter the National Enquirer's Source?" thinks it's Rielle Hunter who's been dishing to the National Enquirer. They cite this speculation by Sharon Waxman who thinks it's all a Hunter-Bob McGovern blackmail scheme gone bad.

"Imagine if Hunter was blackmailing Edwards for money—or, for more money, since she was already being paid a monthly stipend. And if she were pressuring him by leaking information to the National Enquirer. And if she tipped off the Enquirer to the July meeting, including such details as the number of rooms rented, and who was in them."

[Background information: Nearly 90 DBKP stories on the John Edwards-Rielle Hunter affair since December.]


Earlier, Radar had speculated it was Rielle Hunter:

Meanwhile, the Daily News points a finger at Hunter's confidante Robert McGovern as being the Enquirer's likely source for the story, assuming, you know, it's not Hunter herself. (Which is a possibility. The Enquirer pays for info; it's not inconceivable that Hunter was taking money from both sides because she realized she had a kid to support and was going to come off looking ugly either way, so, hey, why not make a buck or two?)

The NY Daily Post thinks Bob McGovern is the inside man. McGovern is Hunter's New Age friend and "healer":

McGovern and his wife live modestly in a $255,000 home in Goleta, Calif., about 10 miles north of Santa Barbara, records show. They were in seclusion Monday.

In his confession to ABC News, Edwards said he got a call from McGovern on July 21, when Edwards was in Los Angeles to meet with the city's mayor. "I knew he was a friend of Ms. Hunter. And he asked me to come and meet with them," Edwards said. "He said the purpose of the meeting was she was having some trouble."

Edwards might have added that he knew McGovern was a friend of Hunter's from his previous two meetings with her at the Beverly Hilton. Although Edwards wasn't caught at those two meetings, reported in the latest print edition of the National Enquirer, Lee Stranahan confirmed that Edwards was at the Beverly Hilton on March 20 for a Tonight Show taping. The Enquirer had earlier reported a "meeting in late March".

So when did Edwards see Hunter aside from June and July? I think the date might be March 20th, 2008. Looking into Edward’s schedule, he appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on that date. The Tonight Show tapes at the NBC studios in Burbank, California and usually wraps taping a little after five o’clock. Burbank is about a half hour from the Beverly Hilton hotel.

This may answer some questions that have been raised about the infamous ‘Spy Cam’ baby photos. For example, some have wondered about Edwards wearing a short sleeved shirt in the photo while reporters from the Enquirer stated that Edwards was wearing a long sleeved shirt when they confronted him at the Beverly Hilton. A careful reading of the Enquirer story that ran with the photos, however, shows that Enquirer never said the Spy Cam photo was from the July meeting.

Later, Stranahan updated his post with this bit of confirming info:

I mentioned the March 20th date and the host of show and Huffington Post blogger Cenk Uygur told me that he ran into Edwards on March 20th, jogging outside the Beverly Hilton hotel. Edwards said he was staying at the Beverly Hilton and that he was appearing on the Tonight Show later that night.

Who's been leaking to the Enquirer?

Since no other persons were reported--as of yet--to be in the Beverly Hilton room with the Edwards, Hunter and McGovern, it has to be one of the three. Logic dictates it wasn't John Edwards--although this has been anything but a logical affair.

Hunter or McGovern?

We don't believe the Enquirer's inside information has come from Hunter: she has too much to lose in the long run, although events may prove that she loses in the long run anyway. Hunter may be having her doubts about how committed John Edwards is to her and her daughter--especially after Edwards told a Nightline TV audience that "he didn't love her"--but she knows she's also been reported to "be in love" with Edwards and no reports to the contrary have yet surfaced.

That leaves Bob McGovern and he's our candidate as the Enquirer's 'inside man'.

McGovern lives in a 'modest' house and, while we're not sure what the going rate is these days for a 'healer', it's likely that the Enquirer pays better than his regular day job in the mystic realm.

Might not McGovern notice that his friend Rielle Hunter is knocking down $15,000/month, living in multi-million dollar homes, and jetting around the world in private planes? Might not he consider that he wants a piece of the pie? McGovern would have had many opportunities during which to snap a cellphone photo during the three meetings Edwards had with Hunter: almost any time Hunter and Edwards were preoccupied with daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter, would have been an occasion for a stealthy McGovern 'Kodak Moment'.

Regardless, our prediction: Edwards will demand that Bob be absent from all future meetings with Rielle Hunter.

The Enquirer's rates for information usually are reported in the $5-20,000 range. For example, it was reported that Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman's son got $15,000 for turning over his cellphone tapes to the Enquirer in November.

For a story that the Enquirer had invested a year in, McGovern's info would have most likely commanded a higher, premium payment--perhaps as high as $50,000. $50,000 is quite a large sum for most people--regardless of whether their house is 'modest' or not.

Speculation will continue for now; the information will eventually be revealed. For now, however, Bob McGovern has our solid vote as the Enquirer's pipeline from inside the Love Child Scandal.

by Mondoreb
image: National Enquirer